Remodeled Bradley International Terminal puts emphasis on customer service
The $737-million renovations include two new boarding gates, a baggage handling system, an upgraded public waiting area and restaurants with specialty menus.
By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times
May 26, 2010

The cavernous ticketing center of the newly remodeled Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX is airy and better lighted than it used to be. Crowded, chaotic conditions have been reduced because passengers no longer have to lug their bags to security scanners before check-in.

New facades beckon travelers to bars and restaurants on the mezzanine level. Downstairs, the dim arrival area has been transformed with a bistro, flower stands and translucent walls that change color like the decorative pylons at the airport entrance. The floors are terrazzo.

"I like it," said Janet Fitzgerald, 46, of New Zealand, who was headed with her family to a ticket counter recently. "I've never seen it better in here."

In one of the most visible signs that the modernization of Los Angeles International Airport is underway, city officials on Wednesday will mark completion of a $737-million renovation of the Bradley terminal — a portal for almost 9 million passengers a year that has not seen a major overhaul since 1984.

"This is the first phase of a total remake of the Bradley," said Gina Marie Lindsey, director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX. "This is a huge improvement for us. The terminal used to have a low level of customer service."

By 2013, the airport plans to make $3 billion to $4 billion in improvements related to the Bradley, which is at the western end of the terminal area.

LAX officials hope the projects will improve security, give the aging facility a contemporary feel and eliminate the crowding that frequently bothers travelers at peak times in the morning and late evenings.

The current project, which began in February 2007, involved a major renovation of the Bradley's interior and included new flooring, improved lighting, better signage for flight information, wider corridors and remodeled restrooms.

Two boarding gates were added to accommodate the next generation of wide-bodied airliners, such as the giant Airbus A380, the Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet, and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

In the hall reserved for customs and immigration inspections, high-capacity baggage carousels were installed to move luggage faster from aircraft to waiting passengers.

From there, travelers can leave the terminal by walking up gently sloping corridors that lead to a remodeled and roomy greeting lobby, where they can meet friends, relatives, or business associates.

There is a halo of lights in the ceiling and the longest video project ever installed at a U.S. airport to entertain people as they wait for passengers. Suspended from the roof, the media wall of 29 side-to-side, 46-inch display screens extends 90 feet in a serpentine pattern.

Among the concessions are a Petals flower shop, a money exchange and Daniels Bistro+Bar. The menu includes items not found at other airports, such as chicken and apple panini, flatbread pizzas and the house special — beef brisket panini with grilled onions, cheddar and arugula.

"It looks welcoming and is laid out well," Sam Magee, 41, of Los Angeles said as he waited in the terminal recently for his wife's parents to arrive from Japan.

The largest part of the project added 45,000 square feet to house a $140-million in-line baggage system that employs elaborate conveyors to move luggage from ticket counters to security scanners before it is loaded onto planes.

The system has eliminated the large boxy scanners in the Bradley lobby, which were a major inconvenience for passengers who had to carry their luggage to the devices during check-in.

LAX "should offer a travel experience worthy of a world-class city," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "These modernizations will improve the experience for travelers and provide the kind of sustainability, safety and security features necessary in this day and age."

LAX officials say, however, the next phase requires that at least $100 million worth of current improvements to 10 of 11 gates at the terminal will have to be torn out to make way for future construction.

Though the renovation offers a significant improvement in esthetics and convenience for passengers, Jack Keady, an aviation and airline consultant in Playa del Rey, cautioned that there are still major problems at LAX, which has often received low marks from the traveling public.

Arriving passengers are still being bused from remote gates to the Bradley terminal and traffic around the airport is terrible, Keady said. The new renovation "won't help if international travelers continue to come out of the Bradley and are met by diesel fumes and traffic congestion."

Keady and airport officials say the next phase of the Bradley overhaul should help relieve some of these concerns. Plans call for new concourses, additional gates that can handle larger aircraft and a grand central hall filled with restaurants and retail shopping.

Federal loan to speed work on Crenshaw light-rail line
Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2010 | 2:48 pm

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s effort to accelerate construction of local transit projects advanced Friday when the federal government announced that it would loan $546 million for a planned light-rail project that would run from the Crenshaw district to a station near Los Angeles International Airport.

The assistance is the first federal commitment to the mayor’s so-called 30/10 initiative, which calls for speeding up the completion dates of 12 transit projects planned by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, including the Westside subway extension.

"This is a substantial down payment," said Villaraigosa, who was in Washington, D.C., recently to lobby for federal assistance. "The money will help create about 5,000 jobs, free up funds for other projects and allow us to move ahead at an accelerated rate."

The loan will cover more than a third of the planning and construction costs of the Crenshaw light-rail project, which is now estimated to cost $1.4 billion.

The proposed line would run about 8 1/2 miles from Exposition and Crenshaw boulevards to the Green Line station at Aviation Boulevard near LAX.

A $546-million federal loan that will enable Metro to more quickly build an 8.5-mile light rail line in the Crenshaw District was announced today by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

It is the first federal funding received for a Measure R transit project and will accelerate the schedule for completion of the Crenshaw/LAX line to the next five or six years; the Crenshaw Line was scheduled to open in 2018 under Metro’s long-range plan. The low-interest loan will be repaid with Measure R revenues.

The funding is a major step forward for the 30/10 Initiative, the Metro policy that seeks to build 12 Measure R transit projects in the next 10 years instead of the next 30 by using federal loans and other financing.

In a news release Senator Boxer said, “This is a great day. The federal government — in partnership with local agencies and the Mayor’s office [L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa] — is helping to leverage local funding to accelerate creation of thousands of jobs, to speed construction of transportation improvements and to bring those benefits to the people of L.A. sooner than would otherwise be possible.”

Mayor Villaraigosa was in Washington earlier this week to participate in a meeting with President Obama about upgrading the nation’s transportation infrastructure.

An official announcement will be made at a press conference to be held next Wednesday.

The $546 million loan from the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program will help get construction underway for the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor project, an 8.5-mile light rail line in the Crenshaw District which will connect to the Metro Green Line and the Expo Line, currently under construction, eventually providing direct train service to a planned LAX transit center.

Metro is currently preparing environmental documents and soon will begin preliminary engineering. Construction could start in late 2011.

The Crenshaw/LAX line represents the largest public works investment in South Los Angeles in history, said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

“Not only will this project bring much needed economic development to an important region of the County, but these federal dollars will result in more than 7,800 much needed jobs for our community during the development of this project. I will make every effort to see that these jobs are allocated fairly to both local residents and those who live in ZIP codes that are most impacted by high unemployment,” said Ridley-Thomas.

“I am very grateful to Senator Boxer and the Obama Administration for this down payment on our 30/10 initiative to move forward with the Crenshaw line and create jobs we need now,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “Senator Boxer has been a tireless advocate for 30/10, and without her efforts this award would not have been possible.”

Here is a link to the news release issued by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. And here is a link to the news release issued by Mayor Villaraigosa.